Feeling Comfortable
It is my understanding that SLPs often tend to feel less comfortable treating people who stutter compared to people with other conditions. What can be done to help SLPs feel more confident with this population? More classes in grad school or undergrad? Trainings? Or something else?
Dear Megan,
HI! Thanks for your thoughtful and important question. The idea that SLPs seem less comfortable with treating stuttering than most other disorders has been a perspective for a long time. If we look at it from different angles, it makes sense. Stuttering is a lower incidence challenge that you will have few experiences with during graduate school and professionally (generally speaking). Most people MIGHT know someone who stutters, but they probably have not talked to them about it. Stuttering is different than any other component of our field in may ways. Graduate school (and this coming from someone who has gone through graduate school and teaches in higher education) has a general theme of ways to “Change” or “Fix” people. Not bad, not always good, and not how we approach stuttering. Also, some universities have less education or dedicated course work about stuttering and even less have a dedicated course about counseling (which is interesting since counseling is part of ASHA’s scope of practice and cuts through everything we do).
So with so many factors that make clients who stutter unique and with less education taught in a lot of graduate programs, it makes sense that SLPs feel less prepared and thus less comfortable.
What can do? We can encourage new SLPs to seek our continuing education focused on stuttering? We can encourage SLPs to learn and practice counseling SKILLS (examples: active/mindful listening, probing questions, mindfulness, psychotherapies like CBT and ACT).
More importantly, we can encourage SLPs and students that you are HELPING a person, not a disorder. We can treat people like people. If you can approach EVER SINGLE client (person) as a unique individual looking to talk, share, and grow. A person who has hopes, dreams, passions, hobbies, friends, family, loves, likes and dislikes, then we can find comfort with anyone and the rest is just learning, on our part, to find what fits that person and helps that person.
Does that help?
Keep asking questions!
With compassion and kindness,
Scott
Hi…
I think Scott has pretty much covered it all, so just adding my tuppence to beva part of this wonderful discussion. The first roadblock to building confidence in SLPs, is the curriculum which focuses more on the speech behaviour rather than the person. The second is the fact that unlike other speech and language diagnoses, this one does not come with a concrete cause that can be dealt with, unless of course it is acquired stuttering. And the third and final challenge is the sheer unpredictability of stuttering that baffles the new therapist as much
Hi…the previous message got accidentally posted while I was typing it . Please read my full response below.
I think Scott has pretty much covered it all, so just adding my tuppence to beva part of this wonderful discussion. The first roadblock to building confidence in SLPs, is the curriculum which focuses more on the speech behaviour rather than the person. The second is the fact that unlike other speech and language diagnoses, this one does not come with a concrete cause that can be dealt with, unless of course it is acquired stuttering. And the third and final challenge is the sheer unpredictability of stuttering that baffles the new therapist as much as it baffles the client who stutters.
Some ways to overcome these challenges is a lot of self reading over and above prescribed syllabi, and attempting to listen and take in more than “tell” the PWS what to do. Of course, being a part of discussions such as these helps a great deal as well. Finally, as Scott rightly put it, look at the person beyond the stutter.
Hope that helps!
Pallavi
I very much support the previous responses from my colleagues. I just want to highlight the importance of clinical practice to help SLPs improve their confidence as clinicians. Therefore, my short answer to your question is to combine a solid theoretical fundament with selfreflexive work and practice, practice, practice…
Hi Megan, my fellow members of the professional panel have covered much of what I would say here, but I’d add both student and qualified SLTs can benefit greatly from engaging with the stuttering community in a voluntary capacity. At the recent STAMMA/ISA World Conference in Liverpool, UK, many SLTs and students volunteered for part or all of the conference, giving them opportunities to engage with those who stutter beyond their usual experience within the therapeutic relationship dynamic. Everyone, including myself, gained so much from this opportunity, it’s another way for people to feel more comfortable engaging with those who stutter. The other panellists have offered suggestions for ways to increase confidence to work clinically with this population and I agree wholeheartedly with their comments, I just wanted to add a suggestion for an alternative idea!
Jenny